独木不成林

独

獨

dú

木

mù

不

bù

成

chéng

林

lín

a lone tree does not make a forest (idiom) / one cannot accomplish much on one's own

Characters and words in 独木不成林

独

獨

dú = du + Ø2

alone / independent / single / sole / only

独 = 犭 + 虫 : Everyone has left the space station, only the animals are left: Doggy Dog (du), the dachshund (犭) and the mosquito (虫). They have noone who throws them a stick or exposes their bare body parts to bite. All alone (独), they wait in the space station's entrance (Ø2).

木

mù = mu + Ø4

surname Mu

木

mù = mu + Ø4

tree / wood / coffin / wooden / simple / numb / one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1]

木 = 八 + 十 : Mnemonic symbol: a Christmas tree.

Malte Monkey (mu) is setting up a Christmas tree (木) in the bathroom of the space station (Ø4). He decorates the tree with eight-balls (八) and puts a holy cross (十) at the top of the tree.

木

mù = mu + Ø4

(bound form) tree / (bound form) wood / unresponsive; numb; wooden

不

bù = bu + Ø4

(negative prefix) / not / no

不 = 丆 + 卜 : Bruno Bear (bu) is setting up a wind wheel (丆) with a voodoo staff (卜) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He also puts a "forbidden" sign (mnemonic symbol for 不) on it, to make clear that it may not (不) be stopped.

不

bù = bu + Ø4

no; not so / (bound form) not; un-

不

bù

成

chéng

won't do / unable to / (at the end of a rhetorical question) can that be?

成

chéng = ch + (e)ng2

surname Cheng

成 = 万 + 戈 : Mnemonic symbol: a progress bar stuck at 99%.

成 = 万 + 戈 : Charlie Chaplin is queuing at the engine's kitchen, which is blocked by a neuron until the progress bar above shows 100%. Unfortunately it has been stuck at 99% for two hours now. If it doesn't finish soon, Charlie will get completely mad and destroy the neuron himself with his spear.

成

chéng = ch + (e)ng2

to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth

成 = 万 + 戈 : Mnemonic symbol: a progress bar stuck at 99%.